FORMLESS PATH --FACEBOOK POSTINGS
Action reaction is a theory based on the false self. Action means karma. If one accepts the self as body, then the karma becomes universal principal. If one accepts the soul/consciousness as self, then the physical body, ego, world and whatever one has seen known and believed and experienced as a person becomes unreal[mirage] on the standpoint of the soul as self.
By accepting karma theory, one is accepting the unreal as real, and permanently remains in the clutches of duality thinking the cycle of birth, life and death as reality. Therefore, to overcome the illusory cycle of birth, life and death, one has to know the fact that, the body/ego /I is not the self, but the formless soul is the true self. Thus the self is within the mind [universe] but it is without the mind [universe]. Thus the self is within the ‘I’ but it is without the ‘I’.
Thus karma theory is a hindrance in the path of truth because one accepts the false self as real self and false experience as real experience and he thinks all his action will yield fruits. Thus he will remain permanently in the realm of unreality or ignorance. Without getting rid of ignorance truth realization or Self-realization is impossibility.
When the self is genderless then it is impossible to get enlightenment through sexual intercourse or tantric sex. It is impossible to get freedom by taking sanyasa or renouncing the worldly life which is mere body based theories. When the self is not physical then what value is there to take sanyasa or renouncing the worldly life? One has to renounce the ignorance, which is the cause of experiencing the illusion [body+ universe] as reality.
If one thinks nondual truth is the ultimate truth, then one has to drop all theories based on the physical body [I] as self, because nondual truth is based on the consciousness [soul], which is the true self.
By accepting karma theory one is accepting the false self, as real self, and world as reality, therefore there is no need for Self-inquiry “Who am ‘I’ “, because one has accepted the present physical identity and world as reality. Self-inquiry makes one realize the fact that self is not the body. After knowing the fact that self is not the body, then it is erroneous to think again as the body as self, and holding the body based theories as reality. Thus karma theory becomes a biggest obstacle in the path of inquiry and truth, because it does not allow the seeker to cross the threshold of duality.
The physical body and the world which exist only in waking/dream/duality are impermanent and illusory in nature, because they appear and disappear as mind. The soul which is the formless substance and witness of the duality is permanent. Therefore, whatever is seen known and believed and experienced as real within the waking also is as real as dream.
Adi Sankaracharya says in Aparokshanubhuti:-
88. When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman?
89. O enlightened one; pass your time always contemplating on Atman while you are experiencing all the results of Prarabdha; for it ill becomes you to feel distressed.
90. The theory one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.
91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on waking.
92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).
93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all?
94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist?
95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality?
96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.
97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.
98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.
99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.
The above proves that the Karma theory is reality only on the base of false self, where one thinks body and the universe as reality. When one becomes aware of the fact that, the true self is formless soul, then the karma becomes part and parcel of illusion. My point is that, if one accepts the karma theory as reality, he will never be able to come out of the ignorance. And ignorance makes him believe the cycle of birth, life and death as reality. Thus the freedom which one is seeking will remain distant dream. For the one who accepts the birth life and death as reality, Self-knowledge is impossible.
Thus it is necessary for the seeker of truth to know the fact that, the body which is born, lives and dies is not the self. Since he is taking the body to be the self, he is experiencing the duality as reality.
As Sri, Sankara says:- When the whole universe, movable and immovable, is known to be Atman, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, where is then any room to say that the body is Atman.
If body is not the Ataman/self, then the karma theory has no meaning on the standpoint of the truth. Thus no second thing exists other than Ataman, therefore why to view the worldview on the standpoint of the body as self [I] when the body [I] is the false self, and the soul/Ataman is the true self.
If body is not the self, then the birth, life, death and the universe are bound to be illusion. If birth, life and death are illusion then all conducts actions and their fruits are mere illusion. If body is not the self, then the existence of god, heaven and hell is mere illusion. If body is not the self then all religious beliefs of god is mere illusion. If body is not the self but the Ataman [soul] which is in the form of consciousness is the true self, then there is no scope for second thing other than consciousness, therefore consciousness, which is Ataman is Brahman or ultimate truth. The Brahman alone is real and eternal. Thus whatever is real eternal has to be identified as god. To identify the real and eternal, one has to overcome the ignorance caused by the illusion. To overcome the ignorance one has to acquire the Self-knowledge.
Seeing God implies duality. Mind or universe or waking, which appears and disappears is not permanent. There is no use of placing faith in the belief of individualized god, which is part of the falsehood, and it is impermanent. It is better to abide in formless consciousness, which is the innermost self and eternal by realizing the experience of diversity is created out of single stuff, which is consciousness. Consciousness is ultimate truth and only ultimate truth or Brahman is GOD. Self-awareness is what one should seek, not visions of individualized God. It is only when the Mind is merged in its source, the soul or consciousness that true knowledge of one's identity with ultimate truth or Brahman will dawn.
